Categories: Podcast

My Favorite Trax from STAX – Part 2: 1964-1966

Favorite Stax Trax, Part 2

On this episode, we continue our journey from last year through the history of Stax Records, the iconic label that defined Southern Soul music, as I play some of my favorite Stax tracks from 1964 to 1966.

Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Booker T & The MG’s, Albert King, Rufus & Carla Thomas, Eddie Floyd… they’re all here on some of the greatest singles ever released. Let’s dig in, shall we?

TRANSCRIPT:

The night time is the right time for the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast, coming to ya on the Pantheon Podcast Network. I’m Brad Page, host of the show, and on this special edition of the podcast, we’re going to continue our look at Stax Records and some of my personal favorite records released by Stax– this time, from 1964 through 1966.

Last year, back on Episode 163, we looked back at the beginning of Stax Records, when Jim Stewart and his sister Estelle Axton opened their first studio, then called “Satellite”, in 1959, eventually moving to 926 East McLemore Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, and changing their name to Stax Records.

Back on that previous episode, I played a bunch of my favorite Stax tracks from those early years, 1959 to 1963. If you haven’t heard that episode, you might want to go back and listen to it, though you don’t necessarily have to. I’ll try to catch you up on who’s who and what’s what as we pick up the story here at Stax in 1964.

Stax got off to a fine start in January 1964 with the release of another Rufus Thomas classic with “Dog” in the title. This time it was “Can Your Monkey Do The Dog?” It’s hard to top that title.

Rufus returned in April with a duet with his daughter, Carla Thomas. The A-side was a track called “That’s Really Some Good”, but my favorite is actually the B-side; it’s their version of the Ray Charles hit, “The Nighttime Is The Right Time”.

Otis Redding released a handful of singles in 1964. My personal favorites came right at the end of 1964 with a killer A and B side, pairing with one of his all-time classics on the A-side” “That’s How Strong My Love Is”.

And you flip that record over and on the B-side is another great Otis Redding track, “Mister Pitiful”.

In March 1965, Stax released a single called “A Place Nobody Can Find”. Though it was not much of a hit, it was a momentous occasion, as it was the first stack single released by Sam & Dave, the duo that would go on to have some of the biggest hits in Stax history. Sam and Dave were brought to Stax by their partnership with Atlantic Records. They had released six or seven singles for other labels without much success, and their first Stax single didn’t make many waves either. But big things were on the horizon, and it would all begin here with “A Place No One Can Find”.

Another momentous occasion for Stax in ‘65 was the arrival of Al Bell. Al Bell wasn’t a musician, a singer, or a songwriter; he came on board as the head of promotion, but he would go on to become a key figure in Stax history. Soon, he would become Vice President of Stax, and by 1972, he would own the company.

Booker T and the MGs, besides being the core Stax studio band and backing musicians, continued to release instrumental albums. In April 1965, they released their biggest hit since “Green Onions”, a track called “Boot-leg”. A few things make this one notable: It’s the first MG’s track to feature Donald “Duck” Dunn on bass—he had replaced Lewos Steinberg; and though it bears his name, Booker T doesn’t even play on this track. The keyboards were actually played by Isaac Hayes.

May ‘65 saw the release of “Candy” by The Astors, written by Steve Cropper and Isaac Hayes. It was The Astors biggest hit, largely forgotten now, but I think it’s a perfect little confection blending R&B and b with pop.

In August 1965, Otis Redding released a little song he wrote called “Respect”. Of course, Aretha Franklin would release her version a couple years later and totally make it her own. But Otis wrote it, and his original version is pretty damn good, too.

As I said, this is just me picking some of my favorite Stax singles. It’s not a definitive list, these are just songs that I really like. Case in point, this next track: it was not a hit or an important track for Stax, I just like it. It’s another one by The Astors– this one’s called “In The Twilight Zone”.

In November 1965, we were gifted with the first of Sam and Dave’s true classics. Written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, the songwriting team that would go on to write many iconic tracks, this was their first big hit for Sam & Dave. It’s the brilliant “You Don’t Know Like I Know”. Dave sings the first verse and they both trade lines on the second verse. It’s well known that Sam and Dave didn’t really like each other very much, but man, they knew how to work a tune.

1966 was a big year for Stax. In February, Otis Redding released his version of the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction”, putting his own spin on it. It was Steve Cropper’s idea to cover the Song. Otis had never even heard the song before. What you’re hearing here was done in just a couple of takes; it’s just an inspired go for it performance.

March 8 saw the release of the first Stax single by Eddie Floyd. The song was called “Things Get Better”, and it was inspired by an advertising slogan for Coca-Cola, “Things go better with Coke”. You know, when you’re a songwriter, you take inspiration anywhere you can find it. “Things Get Better” wasn’t a big hit for Eddie Floyd, but it was a start.

One of the overlooked gems from Stax is this track by Ruby Johnson. “I’ll Run Your Hurt Away” was written by David Porter and Isaac Hayes. It was a moderate hit on the R&B chart at the time, but inexplicably, it’s faded into obscurity. But Ruby turns in a fantastic vocal performance, just listen to her phrasing on this track.

March ‘66 also brought us one of the best Sam & Dave tracks. David Porter was in the bathroom, and Isaac Hayes was tired of waiting for him to finish his business… he yelled, “Get a move on”, and Porter yelled back, “Hold on, I’m coming!”. And that, believe it or not, was the birth of one of the greatest R&B songs.

Albert King was one of the great blues guitarists. He was left-handed and played a right- handed Gibson Flying V with the strings upside-down, so the high strings were on top. He played fierce, fiery solos that inspired generations of guitar players, in particular, Stevie Ray Vaughan. Albert King had been making records since 1953, but largely at the insistence of Estelle Axton, Albert King cut his first single for Stax in April 1966, and it became one of his most popular tunes: “Laundromat Blues”.

Skipping ahead to July 1966, Carla Thomas returned to the charts with a hit called Baby, B-A-B-Y”. Written by Hayes and Porter, it originally had a groove better suited for Sam & Dave, but Booker T. Rearranged it to fit Carla’s style, and I think it turned out to be one of her best singles.

Also in July came one of the all-time great R&B songs. Recorded by Eddie Floyd and written by Floyd and Steve Cropper. It’s “Knock On Wood”. What more do I need to say?

Albert King was back at Stax with another song that would become one of his all-time classics– a song that would be covered many times in the future, including a version by Gary Moore in 1990 that also featured a guest appearance by Albert King. But this is the original version from August 1966, It’s Albert King with “Oh, Pretty Woman”.

And Otis Redding was still on a roll at Stax. In September, he released “Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa (Sad Song), another big hit.

And in November, Stax released my favorite Otis Redding track, “Try A Little Tenderness”. The song had been around for years, both Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra had recorded versions of it. Isaac Hayes initially arranged it, with contributions by drummer Al Jackson Jr. and Booker T. Everybody contributed, but it was really Otis Redding’s vision. He owned it. It’s his masterpiece.

November also included the release of Albert King’s third major contribution, his version of “Crosscut Saw”, another blues classic that would be covered multiple times, including by Eric Clapton. Here’s Albert King with his version of “Crosscut Saw”.

And two Christmas songs came out in November to close out 1966 for Stax: Carla Thomas had “All I Want For Christmas Is You”. No, not the Mariah Carey Song, this is a melancholy ballad that was originally released in 1963 as the B-side to “Gee Whiz, it’s Christmas”. This time they reissued it as an A-side.

And Booker T. And the MGs had their version of “Jingle Bells” with a great guitar solo by Steve Cropper.

And we’ll wrap up this episode there. We’ll pick up with 1967 sometime next year.

In the meantime, go seek out some of these records, and if you really want to splurge, pick up one of the massive box sets. There are three of them. Most of the facts and figures in this episode come from the fabulous book included in the box sets written by Rob Bowman; some of the best researched and written material you’re ever going to find on Stax. Highly recommended, and of course, I thank Rob for his scholarly work.

Of course, there’s a great Stax documentary on HBO that I’ve mentioned before, released last year, that is well worth watching.

As always, new episodes of this podcast come out twice a month, right here on the Pantheon network, so I’ll see you in about two weeks. All of our past episodes, including the previous episode on Stax, are available on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com. or just look for them in your favorite Podcast app.

Please, if you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend about it, because your word of mouth and recommendations by people like you, are the best ways for podcasts like this one to grow and thrive. So thanks for supporting the show, and for listening to this episode on some of my favorite tracks from Stax.

RESOURCES:

Stax Records:
Stax Records

Rufus Thomas:
Rufus Thomas

Carla Thomas:
Carla Thomas

Otis Redding:
Otis Redding

Sam & Dave:
Sam and Dave

Al Bell:
Al Bell

Booker T. and the MGs:
Booker T. & the M.G.’s

Isaac Hayes:
Isaac Hayes

Steve Cropper:
Steve Cropper

Albert King:
Albert King

Eddie Floyd:
Eddie Floyd